UAB Football Travels to Liberty for Saturday Night Contest

BIRMINGHAM – The UAB football teams hits the road for the first time this season for a Saturday night contest at Liberty. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST/5 p.m. CST on ESPN+.

Both teams enter the game at 1-0 following UAB's 59-0 victory over Alabama A&M and Liberty's four overtime thriller at Southern Miss in which the Flames were victorious 29-27. The Blazers look for a measure of revenge from last year's contest in Birmingham as Liberty walked away with a 36-12 victory.

A near sellout crowd of 25,000 fans are expected on Saturday night at Williams Stadium.

Who: UAB (1-0) at Liberty (1-0)
Where: Williams Stadium – Lynchburg, Va.
When: Saturday, Sept. 10 – 6 p.m. EST/5 p.m. CST
Watch: ESPN+
On The Call: Matt Warner (play-by-play), Joe Jauch (analyst), Emily Austen (sideline)
Listen: WJOX 94.5 FM
On The Call: David Crane (play-by-play), Bryant Turner (analyst), Landrum Roberts (sideline)
Series: Liberty leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Oct. 2, 2021: Liberty, 36-12

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

The Blazers set Division I FBS school records for points scored (59) and margin of victory (59) last Thursday against Alabama A&M. UAB scored 75 points in Division III and 61 at the FCS level, but have never scored that many points as FBS members.
UAB's defense posted its sixth shutout since returning to action in 2017. The Blazers looked dominant while doing so by creating four turnovers (3 INT, 1 FF), tallying four TFL, three sacks, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles and four quarterback hurries.
Most impressively, the Blazers scored touchdowns in the first quarter on offense, defense and special teams against AAMU. Along with a rushing and passing touchdown, Mac McWilliams had a 78-yard pick six, while Charlie Goode blocked a punt which was recovered in the end zone by Damien Miller.
Dylan Hopkins started his 2022 campaign by completing 13-of-18 passes for 191 yards and touchdown, along with adding a rushing touchdown. Hopkins continues to be one of the most accurate passers in school history and completed 72 percent of his passes in Week 1.
Running back DeWayne McBride was a late scratch in Week 1 but is expected to be back against Liberty. In his absence, Jermaine Brown Jr. rushed 10 times for 114 yards and a touchdown and recorded his fourth career 100-yard rushing performance. Lee Witherspoon, who missed all of last year with a broken leg, had eight carries for 53 yards and two touchdowns in his first career game for the Blazers.
Noah Wilder had a team-high nine tackles against Alabama A&M and is now 16 stops away from entering the top 10 for career tackles at UAB. Wilder has 237 career tackles.
UAB was one of 11 teams who had three or more interceptions in Week 1. Along with Mac McWilliams, Jaylen Key and Xavier Lanier also had interceptions and it was the first career INT for all three players.
Liberty lost starting quarterback Charlie Brewer to a broken wrist and is expected to play two quarterbacks in Kaidon Salter and Jonathan Bennett. Salter was the third string QB last week but played in the second half at USM and led Liberty to the come-from-behind victory.
Liberty wide receiver Demario Douglas is a player the Blazers will need to account for. He had five catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns last week at Southern Miss, and last year had four catches for 128 yards against UAB.

Following the Liberty game, UAB returns home to host Georgia Southern for the first ever meeting between the two programs. Kickoff on Sept. 17 is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

UAB Football Travels to Liberty for Saturday Night Contest

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Players Mentioned

Jermaine Brown Jr.

Charlie Goode

Dylan Hopkins

Jaylen Key

Xavier Lanier

DeWayne McBride

Mac McWilliams

Damien Miller

Noah Wilder

Lee Witherspoon

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics